BELMOPAN, Belize, Sept 1, CMC – The foreign ministers of Belize and Guatemala Tuesday met with the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin, at the the Adjacency Zone.
The Adjacency Zone between Belize and Guatemala is a territorial strip 213 kilometers long and two kilometers wide and was established in 2000 as a key confidence-building measure to preserve stability, dialogue, and peace during the process to resolve the territorial dispute between the two countries.
Through the Office of the General Secretariat in the Adjacency Zone, the OAS maintains a continuous presence dedicated to preventive diplomacy, security, and social development.
A statement by the OAS said that the visit by Ramdin and the delegation of the Group of Friends of Belize and Guatemala seeks to reaffirm the OAS’s commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes, assess the implementation of Confidence-Building Measures on the ground, and highlight the positive impact of community and educational initiatives in the area. It said it will also aim at strengthening the international community’s technical and financial support for the work of the OAS Mission in the Adjacency Zone.
The delegation of the Group of Friends of Belize and Guatemala include representatives of Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Spain, Türkiye, and the European Union, among other international partners.
The OAS said Ramdin and the delegation will meet with the Belize Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belize, Francis Fonseca, and his Guatemalan counterpart Carlos Ramiro Martínez Alvarado and that the delegation “will also receive briefings on the work of the OAS Mission and recent developments in the area.
Belize and Guatemala have a long-standing territorial dispute with Guatemala claiming more than 11,000 square kilometers of Belizean land, islands and maritime sreas.
In March 2000, Belize and Guatemala resumed discussions on their territorial dispute with the assistance of the OAS and on November 8, 2000, they signed the first Agreement on Confidence Building Measures, establishing an “Adjacency Line” and a one-kilometer “Adjacency Zone” on either side.
A second Agreement was signed on February 7, 2003, and subsequently amended in September 2005 by the “Agreement on a Framework for Negotiation and Confidence Building Measures between Belize and Guatemala.
The OAS delegation will also tour the “Ta’ Amay” Peace Promotion and Training Centers and participate in the unveiling of a mural on peaceful coexistence created jointly by Belizean and Guatemalan youth as a symbol of binational integration and community trust.
”As part of his broader official agenda, Secretary General Ramdin will also hold bilateral meetings with both foreign ministers in Belmopan and Guatemala City. While in the latter, he will also meet with the Secretary General of the Central American Integration System (SICA), Lina Eugenia Ajoy Rojas,” the OAS statement added.
CMC//hj/ir/2026